TOKYO (AP) — Japan says it has canceled a port call in South Korea by its main warship during a multilateral naval exercise as relations between the two Asian neighbors fall to their lowest level in recent years.
The Defense Ministry said Tuesday it will not send the helicopter carrier Izumo to Busan in southern South Korea in April.
The ministry said Japan plans to participate in the rest of the exercise and hopes that bilateral ties will improve constructively.
Japan and South Korea, both key allies of the United States and close economic partners, are locked in disputes involving alleged military provocations as well as wartime history.
